[IC] shadows.

[Rystelle]

Sophia felt Tim squeezing her hand and she returned the squeeze, trying to reassure both him and herself. She nodded and said, "Alright. We'll go in. But... I'm worried about what might be over there. If there is anything over there. Think we should bring something for protection? Like a knife? Just in case, I mean." Tim thought for a moment, then went and found a pocket knife he happened to have. Sophia took it and put it in the pocket of her jacket. The knife wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Sophia then realized what she was wearing and stared down at her pajama pants. Looking up at Tim she managed a wry smile as she said, "I'm not sure about you, but I never imagined going on a magical adventure in my pajamas. But it's not like it can be helped right now. It is an impromptu magical adventure."

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim looked her over, noticing that she was only wearing her pajamas. Nothing for climbing through holes and weird paranormal adventures into the unknown. He let go of her hand, instead placing his hands on his hips. He sighed once as he gave her a once over. Then he smiled. It was an awkward, Tim smile, but it was still a smile. "I can let you, uh, borrow some clothes. From my room. If you want." He said, sliding is hands into his pants pockets. "I mean, you've already worn my hoodie. Why not wear a sweater and some pants, too, right?" He walked over to his bedroom door, showing her where it was. "Are you cool with that?"

[Rystelle]

"That would be great," Sophia said appreciatively. "Thank you, Tim." She walked into his bedroom and closed the door behind her after flicking on the light switch. Sophia looked around the room for a moment, her curiosity getting the better of her. There wasn't much there and it seemed like it was barely lived in. It made her wonder if Tim didn't just crash on his couch after working all night. She wouldn't doubt it. Finding Tim's closet Sophia picked out a pair of blue jeans and a simple black sweater. The jeans sat almost a little too snugly on Sophia's waist, given that she had wider hips than Tim, and the pants legs were too long. The sweater was also a bit big on her, the waist and sleeves a bit long and the body a bit loose. Regardless it was better than pajamas and she was grateful for it. Sophia folded her pajama pants up and set them to the side, but the shirt she kept on under the sweater. Her jacket went back over the sweater again. The three layers were less for warmth and more that she had forgotten a key piece of a woman's daily outfit in her rush to get to Tim and as such needed them to feel a bit more secure on their impending adventure. Putting her tennis shoes back on she returned to the living room, the sweater peeking out of the jacket and the cuff of the jeans sitting over the top of her tennis shoes, giving Tim an indication of how much smaller than him she was. "Ready!" She declared with a grin, feeling both nervous and excited at the same time.

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim stifled a laugh when she came out, giggling into the crook of his arm as he puled it up to his mouth. She looked a little bit ridiculous, wearing clothes that were at least two sizes too big for her smaller frame. She looked...adorable, a word that Tim rarely used. He shook his head, still laughing. "Oh, my god...you look great!" he said, his arm still up to his mouth. He was absolutely loving this right now. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he pulled his arm down, though he was still smiling wide. He was clearly amused.

[Rystelle]

Sophia made a big motion of rolling her eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh as if un-amused by Tim's laughter. But really it was all in fun and she felt her face split into a wide grin. She had never seen Tim this happy before, and he was even laughing! This was huge! "Well, it's not my fault you're taller than me," Sophia stated, playfully poking a finger into Tim's side. "But I'm glad you seem to be enjoying yourself. This is as good as I'm gonna get anyway. Ready to go?"

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim shook his head. "Absolutely fucking not." he said, still smiling, his eyes going a bit wider. "But I dont think I'm actually going to be, so we should just, y'know, go for it." He was going through the whole situation with a "fuck it, theres a goddamned portal in my fucking kitchen" sort of outlook on it. He walked to the kitchen table, grabbing his house keys and stuffing them in the pocket of his jacket. He joined Sophia at the hole, shaking his head again. "Oh, fuck. This is an incredibly bad idea, isnt it?"

[Rystelle]

"Possibly," Sophia agreed as she peered at the hole with a mixture of interest and worry. "But we'll never know until we try. It could turn into something awesome. Could you imagine having a place akin to Narnia (but hopefully without the evil witches and stuff) that you could explore whenever you liked? That'd be so cool! And if we find out this place is bad news then we won't ever go back again. We'll just ignore the tunnels whenever they appear until they disappear." What Sophia didn't say though is that this one had been open for a while now, and she was starting to wonder about that. How long did it take it to close? Did someone have to go through it? Another question popped into Sophia's head. Turning to Tim she said, "I realized something. Everything we saw when we went through the one at the park... It looked exactly like the park, but it wasn't that. If this place really is like a mirror world, do you think we'll come out into an apartment that looks just like yours? Though it probably won't have your stuff, since the other place didn't have my car."

[DELTED293y5gds]

"Yeah... that....um, yeah, that could be what happens." Tim said, getting more nervous by the second. He was really scared of the hole, yet he had to know what was on the other side. He had to. There was no other option. Tim climbed up first, getting on his hands and knees in the tunnel, crawling in just far enough for Sophia to get in right behind him. He looked behind himself, at her now. "Do you think we're gonna be okay?" He asked, breathing a bit quicker now.

[Rystelle]

Sophia was right behind Tim and almost ran into him when he stopped. When he turned to look back at her she could see the worry in his eyes could hear his quick breaths. She couldn't put her hand in his this time to squeeze it reassuringly, so instead she reached out and gently pat the side of his leg. Sounding more confident than she felt Sophia remarked, "We'll be fine." They traveled through the tunnel for a while, longer than Sophia would have thought possible. Finally there was a light ahead and Tim almost tumbled out of the tunnel, but managed to catch himself. It was awkward for him to get out, given that the end of the tunnel had come out in the wall again. Eventually he made it out and then helped Sophia out. Together they stood in an apartment very similar to Tim's, except that there was no furniture and the colors were all introverted. There was something else different as well, but Sophia couldn't quite place her finger on it. Deciding to be daring she called out, "Hello? Is anyone home? We don't mean to intrude." She waited, but she only heard silence. She turned to Tim, a look on her face as if asking, What now?

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim stiffened his posture, taking in the surreal qualities of what exactly was going on in this place. There was nothing but empty rooms and strangely colored walls. But it was his place. It was his apartment they were standing in. Everything was almost similar, but t they werent. The differences weren't glaring, but they were just present enough for him to notice. There were no holes in the walls where nails had once been for pictures. There were no pill bottles on the counters. Everything felt wrong. He had his hands in fists, his face locked in an expression of "oh, fuck, what do I do now?" He stepped forwards, biting his lip as he went, absolutely unsure of what to do. His arms were still locked at his sides as he ventured towards the living room where--surprise, surprise-- there was nothing but an exact, furniture-less parallel of his own apartment. He shook his head, freaking out internally. "This is a little fucked up, isnt it?" He asked Sophia as he stepped in more, looking at his--the--bathroom door for a moment. HE stood in the center of the living room, his eyes wide, his breath steady, but heavy.

[Rystelle]

The changes were... unsettling, to say the least. Like walking into your old home after you've moved, or walking into an apartment with an identical layout but with a slightly different theme. Seeing how Tim was starting to lock up some, Sophia made her move before Tim could really start freaking out. She stepped forward until she was beside him. Putting one hand on his she managed to get him to loosen his fist until she could put her hand in his and lace their fingers together. Once more Tim clutched his hand tightly, but this time Sophia's hand rested in his and she squeezed his hand to reassure her that out of all of this she at least was real. "It's weird," Sophia wholeheartedly agreed. Recalling her thoughts of just moments ago she gently instructed Tim, "Just think of it as another apartment with the same layout but a different theme. The apartments in my complex are like that. It throws me off every time I visit with my neighbor." Sophia cast a glance over her shoulder and saw that the tunnel in the kitchen wall had disappeared. They would have to find another way out. Turning back to Tim she suggested, "Why don't we look around? See if there's anything of use or anything that might indicate whatever's going on. More of those runes, maybe. Or another tunnel that will lead us home."

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim walked across the room, letting go of Sophias hand as she moved in the opposite direction. He didn't know why but for some reason, he felt almost drawn to the bathroom. Like there was something there that would answer all the questions in his head, something that would make everything in this fucked up portal world make sense. He stepped closer. The light was off, and the entire room was shrouded in darkness. He narrowed his eyes and stepped into the doorway. He searched for the light switch for a moment, found it, and flicked it on. He was able to choke out a strange yell before the door clicked shut behind him. There, in front of him, in the bathtub, was him. It was his body, sitting in a pool of red water. Blood oozed out if the crook of his arms, dripping into the water, staining it red. Tim's hands were over his mouth, his eyes were wide. He though he heard someone knocking on the door behind him, but all he heard was a loud, thunderous ringing. Things blurred for a moment, everything getting a little brighter to him. And then, he heard a voice. Despicable. "Fuck!" Tim said, his voice barely squeaking out from between his hands. His mother was standing in front of him now, looking directly into his eyes. She shook her head, anger and disappointment in her gaze. Tims hands slowly dropped, his mouth agape as though he were about to scream, but he couldnt. Fucking disappointing. She stepped closer. Her voice was not her own. It was off, it was fucking scary. Tim backed against the door. He felt it rumbling against his back. Someone was definitely knocking on the door, but he couldnt make himself find the handle. He was frozen. He felt something warm streaming down his face. Tears. How dare you. "D-dont..." he choked out, felling for the doorknob, trying and failing to find it. "Please." How fucking dare you! Tim finally forced himself to turn around. He unlocked the door and slammed into it as he turned the handle, the door flinging open. The lights in the bathroom flicked off behind him as he ran out, and Sophia was thrown backwards by the force, though she was able to catch her balance. She turned around, watching as Tim went for the front door. He tripped over his own feet, falling down in the living room. He turned over onto his back, gazing into the dark bathroom, tears still falling silently down his face, unaccompanied by sobs. He backed against the wall, covering his mouth with his hands again, his breath quick and heavy. He needed to leave. He wanted to leave. He needed to move. But he didnt.

[Rystelle]

Sophia jumped as she saw the bathroom door slam shut on its own behind Tim. That was some horror movie shit right there, and every fiber of her being was screaming at her to run. But she wouldn't. Not without Tim. She tried the handle but it wouldn't open. She started to bang on the door, yelling Tim's name. Her voice got higher and higher as she began to panic until she was almost screaming. All Sophia could hear was muffled cries coming from the other side of the bathroom. Finally the door burst open, catching Sophia off guard and almost knocking her off balance. She caught herself, but she saw that Tim was not so lucky as he tripped backwards into the living room and fell to the floor. He looked like he had seen a ghost and he was crying, his hands covering his mouth as he labored to breathe. Sophia didn't feel much better. She rushed to Tim's side, a look of sheer panic on her face. Sophia had no idea what had happened to Tim in the bathroom, but now wasn't the time to ask. She grabbed one of his hands, forced him to his feet. She made to drag him out of the apartment. She opened the front door and a corridor of smooth stone embedded with glittering gems appear almost instantaneously. It was not a crawl space this time, but rather a full-sized hallway that began as soon as the door ended. Without hesitating Sophia pulled Tim through it. At the end another door appeared. Sophia yanked it open and they stumbled through the door into Tim's apartment. The real apartment. Sophia slammed the door shut as soon as she and Tim were through, making sure to lock it for good measure. Already knowing what Tim might need, she forced him to sit down on the couch before retrieving a glass of water and two of his pills--her hands shaking the entire time. Tim downed both of them quickly, but he was still an utter mess. Not knowing what else to do and still scared out of her mind, Sophia wrapped her arms around Tim's middle and pulled his head to rest on her shoulder. She hugged him tightly as they both sat there shaking.

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim just sat there, tears running down his face, which was a wide eyed disaster. He still wasn't sobbing. Tears just came out, while his expression was one of complete disbelief. His mouth hung open, in an expression of pure shock. He had a hand covering the crook of his arm, gripping at the sleeve of his sweater hard. His breathing was slower now, but still heavy. He felt like he was dying. He only just realized that they were back in his own apartment again. He lifted his head up off of Sophia's shoulder, finally closing his mouth. He still held a death grip on his sleeve, though. He gritted his teeth hard as he tried to take in the reality of the situation. I'm back home. he told himself. I'm going to be alright. That didn't fucking work, because he still felt fucking awful. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve once before bringing his arm back down, gripping at the sleeve again. He exhaled sharply, his breath shaking. Sophia tried to ask him what happened, ask him what he saw, but he just shook his head no. He couldnt. He could not tell her.

[Rystelle]

When Tim didn't want to tell her what happened, Sophia dropped the subject all together. She didn't want to push him and make him even more upset that he already was. She couldn't stand to do that to him. Instead she continued to try to comfort him in any way she could, but she knew most of her efforts went to waste. Still she tried, unable to let Tim stew alone in his misery. "We'll never go back there again," Sophia stated with a determined forcefulness. "Never again. If any of those tunnels ever appear we'll just ignore them. It'll be ok, Tim. It'll be fine. We're safe in your apartment." At least, she hoped they were safe. Sophia never wanted to see one of those tunnels again. If she could she'd throw a stick of dynamite into the next one and would happily watch it blow up. Wondering if Tim might feel more comfortable somewhere else, given that he had just had some sort of traumatic experience in the "other" apartment, Sophia asked, "Do you want to stay here or would you prefer to go to my place?"

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim thought for a few minutes about her question, trying to clear his head. He let go of his arm, leaning forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and his head on his hands. He sat like this for a moment before he answered. "Um...yeah, lets, uh...yeah." his voice was soft, quiet. He leaned back, falling into the couch a bit. He looked up at the ceiling fan, trying to bring his focus back into the world they were in right now. "We should go now..."

[Rystelle]

"Come on then. Let's go," Sophia said as she stood up. She turned to Tim and waited for him to get up. When he made no move Sophia grabbed him by the hands and, with some effort, pulled him to his feet. With one of his hands in hers she went to the front door. Suddenly remembering what had last been behind the door Sophia peeked out of the spy hole nervously. Everything in the hallway appeared to be normal. Still when she opened the door she opened it only half an inch and peered out. The hallway was indeed normal. Sophia locked the door to the apartment and led Tim to her car parked next door at the cafe. Soon they were in her apartment, the door locked behind them. Only then did Sophia begin to relax a little. Walking into the kitchen she opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of cold coffee then walked back into the living room. She handed one of the bottles to Tim, opened her own, and gulped down half of it in one go. Sophia let out a huge breath and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Looking to Tim, Sophia said, "You're more than welcome to stay here today, Tim. In fact, I insist." She took a swig of her coffee, a thoughtful look on her face. Lowering the bottle Sophia slowly ventured, "You can stay the night too if you need." She saw no reason for him not to and felt that it might actually be better for him to stay the night for the sake of his sanity and health.

[DELTED293y5gds]

Ti stared down at the bottle he was handed, just focusing on one thing at a time. He barely registered what Sophia was saying to him at the time until about halfway through her sentence. He sighed a bit again, closing his eyes for a moment. He spoke after a few seconds, his voice still soft and quiet like it was before. "Um...thanks...thank you, I uh... I would like that." he said, sighing after he spoke. He was...drained. Completely and utterly emotionally drained. And horrified. And upset. And just every single negative thing he could be. He reached for the crook of his arm, placing a hand over it again. He left it there for a moment, then pulled away. "Uh... I-I'm sorry...for waking you up this morning, and then freaking out, and then... y'know, all the stuff...that just happened." Tim said, putting the bottle of coffee down on the floor in front of him. "I just...dont know. What to do. Ever. So, I'm sorry." Tim sighed again, then made a noise into his hands, which he brought up to his face. He felt, for the time being, hollow.

[Rystelle]

Sophia noticed Tim's recurring movement to his arm. She couldn't tell if it was just some sort of reflex or something so she didn't comment on it. Instead she gently assured him, "You don't have to apologize, Tim. It's not your fault any of that stuff happened. If anything I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even suggested we go there, wherever there was. I promise we won't go there again." As Tim buried his face in his hands Sophia felt utterly distraught. He wouldn't tell her what had happened in the bathroom, and she didn't want to push him. All she could do was offer him whatever comfort she could provide. She put her drink down on the coffee table and she started to say, "It's gonna be ok," while gently putting her hand on Tim's shoulder in a reassuring gesture. As soon as Sophia's hand touched Tim's shoulder he jerked away as if burned. Sophia felt kind of hurt. She thought they had been making some progress in their friendship and Tim getting used to physical contact from her. But she knew that Tim was under extreme duress from whatever had happened to him, and she had to reason with himself that he just needed some space to calm down. Sitting down on the couch across from him while keeping some distance between them, Sophia tried to soothe him by saying, "It'll be alright, Tim. We're safe in my apartment. We'll never go through one of those tunnels again. You don't have to worry anymore. Why don't we do something to take your mind off of it? I can put on a movie or a game, or you can read something or take a nap if you'd like. Whatever you think will help you feel a little better."

[DELTED293y5gds]

Tim felt horrible. He didn't mean to jerk away, to go away from her, but he just couldn't handle it. It felt like his body set fire for a moment. This wasn't the first time he felt this before, though. He usually felt this when he was touched by people he didn't know, or if he was being hit. It's the first time he ever felt it from Sophia though. Her touch was usually a calming sensation. He knew why he couldn't be touched right now, though, and it calmed him a bit since she understood too. He shrugged a bit, looking at Sophia, then down at his lap again. "Uh... we can, um, you can choose, um, what we do. I dont have a real...preference for this right now. I'm fine with anything at all, really. Like, let's just do something yknow?" He looked at Sophia again and forced a smile, to show her that he was doing...descent. He actually hated that she couldnt touch him right now. He really liked it when she touched him, usually. Her hands were soft, her grip on his firm, everything felt right and fine when she did it. And to be deprived of that felt awful. He wished he could just force his body to accept it. "Um a-also, I know you're probably wondering what happened to me in the um... the bathroom. Uh... I'll tell you... sometime. It's something... I didnt think I'd ever see it more than once in my life. And to see it physically again... it scared me. And I'm sorry."